Does Heritage Stay True? (1959 vs. 2008 edition) Chapter 5 - Finally!

Back in June of 2020, I started a series comparing the 1959 set with it's "tribute" - 2008 Heritage.  It was originally inspired by Bo and his Cardboard Cousins posts. 

I got as far as card #268, and then just kinda stopped.  Not sure why, except my own distraction to other topics at the time.  Before we rejoin the journey, let me recap a few things from my first post.

Since I have both sets complete, I chose the 1959/2008 set comparison.  Having the cards hasn't really been that helpful though, I largely relied on the database listings and a spreadsheet where I laid out both sets side by side.

As I went through the lists, I noted the matching pairs, and also the significant stars or cards that were paired in mediocre combinations, or worse - not at all.  The criteria for a good match is simple - players share some characteristic: slugger, ace pitcher, or at least the same position, and for the same team.  There's a chance there may be something different, like a common nickname or something, but it doesn't happen often.

Alright, let's get back into it.

At #270, some good star power, but I wouldn't say they're a match.  Fielder seems more of a big fun guy, while Hodges is probably a bit more serious.  

Let's try the Dodgers' first basemen together...

...and put two guys playing for Milwaukee with some great memorable cards together.

That's just a great hobby pairing right there.

On to #283, you've got the immortal Russ Heman with another guy named Cabrera...?  Just kidding.  Miggy is probably a future HOF'er, right?  Let's see what else we can do.

Virgil is a vast improvement.  Tigers third baseman, the first Dominican to play in the majors (OK, Miggy is Venezuelan, but still...), and well, ....he didn't actually show up on the League Leaders.  Still better than a random Cleveland pitcher!

Wasn't thinking when I was going through the spreadsheet and marked these two.  Tony Gwynn the elder had been retired for 7 years already.  This is his son.  But either way, the only similarity is the color scheme.  

Checked the '59 Milwaukee roster (again) and found that - according to Baseball Reference, Gwynn Jr. and Brother Frank here had rather similar numbers.  Junior was more of a runner since he only placed as a leader in fielding range.  But their hitting numbers are in the ballpark.

Right next to them at #287, we have a couple of Dodgers.  But the positions don't jive that much.  They are both notable players, but not superstars, but I'll swap this pair for another.

That's just a little bit better.  I'm not really sure why...

OK!  They finally got one right.  Though the modern font thing is still jacked up.  And Ramos and Pascual are more memorable to me than the Nats guys.  Mostly from seeing them on more cards.

Again, colors good, players not even close.  This one is an easy fix.

I mean, come on.  Both guys end up running the Bronx Bombers.  It's a no-brainer.

At the 300 mark.  This is a good one.  

And a good place to end the first batch in three years.  Now I'll have to make up more of the graphics.  These are all I still had left except for the Gwynn Jr./Stone duo which I just made.  They're easy to do as long as the database site is up, which it wasn't when I began tonight.  (Anyone else getting 502 Bad Gateway or Certificate errors on there?)

The earlier articles had about twice the comparisons.  Is this a good length or should I go longer?  Let me know in the comments.